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5 things you need to know Monday

USA Today Network USA Today, USAToday 8:28 a.m. EDT March 10, 2014

Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot arrives for a hearing at the Lurigancho prison in Lima on January 13, 2012. Van der Sloot, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to the murder of a young Peruvian woman in 2010, will hear the sentence today. Van der Sloot is also a prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of US college student Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)(Photo: STR AFP/Getty Images)

It is still not clear what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that vanished early Saturday with 239 people aboard. Reported sightings of wreckage from the plane have also not been confirmed.

Democrats plan all-night 'talkathon' on climate change

A majority of Senate Democrats on Monday will launch an overnight "talkathon" until approximately 9:00 a.m. Tuesday to draw attention to climate change. The overnight effort, organized by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is part of the recently launched Senate Climate Action Task Force headed by Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. In a statement, Boxer said Democrats want to "wake up Congress" to the dangers of climate change.

Edward Snowden to speak at SXSW

The former National Security Agency contractor who lifted the veil on U.S. surveillance practices will speak at the South by Southwest confab in Austin. Snowden will participate in a one-on-one discussion via video conference from Russia about "the impact of the NSA's spying efforts on the technology community, and the ways in which technology can help to protect us from mass surveillance," according to a description of the talk on the SXSW website.

Magnitude-6.9 earthquake hits off Calif. coast

A powerful magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, about 50 miles west of Eureka, the United States Geological Survey reported. There were no early reports of damage or injuries.

Peru: Van der Sloot won't see U.S. court till 2038

Peru's government says that once Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot completes his murder conviction in 2038, he will be extradited to the United States to face trial on charges he extorted and defrauded the mother of a young American woman for whose disappearance he is the chief suspect.